The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) will be working closely with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) to monitor the development of the Kingston Container Terminal (KCT).

This is in order to ensure that adequate environmental protection measures are undertaken. Head of the PAJ, Professor Gordon Shirley, made the comments at a press conference at the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation in Kingston recently. He noted that NEPA had evaluated the potential impact from work to dredge and expand the harbour before granting the environmental licences to the concessionaire of the KCT, the Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL).

Professor Shirley said the development will be carefully scrutinised to ensure that the impact on the environment is minimal and that the necessary remediation will take place.

“We hope to work very closely with the concessionaire as they implement that project to minimise the impact on the communities around the Kingston Harbour,” he said.

The KCT was divested to the KFTL, a subsidiary of global terminal operators CMA CGM Group, on July 1.

The entity, which has a 30-year concession to finance, expand, operate and maintain the KCT, will be embarking on a project to deepen and widen the access channel and basin of the harbour.

“Our objective is to see the Kingston Harbour developed into a world-class facility with not just the trans-shipment facilities, but supported by a number of other services, and our role is to assist in ensuring that this occurs,” Shirley said.

“We would like, as the Port Authority, to see the harbour restored to a relatively pristine condition, and this means protecting the reefs and monitoring carefully what goes into it,” he noted.

Source: The Gleaner